Listen: John Hughes' Out-of-Print Commentary For 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

By
Charlie Schmidlin
|
The PlaylistNovember 27, 2012 at 11:28AM

In the world of DVD commentaries there exist the masterpieces, such as the Soderbergh/Dobbs melee for “The Limey” or the Jackson/Walsh/Boyen trio of LOTR. But there are also the buried classics that must quietly wait for a proper release, which is exactly the status that, up until today, befell director John Hughes' landmark comedy, “Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”

In the world of DVD commentaries there exist the masterpieces, such as the Soderbergh/Dobbsmelee for “The Limey” or the Jackson/Walsh/Boyen trio of LOTR. But there are also the buried classics that must quietly wait for a proper release, which is exactly the status that, up until today, befell director John Hughes' landmark comedy, “Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”

Featuring the one and only commentary track from Hughes' entire filmography, the 1999 DVD version of 'Ferris Bueller' has since remained the cut-off point for the feature, since the director's rumored displeasure with its content has sadly left it off subsequent releases. However, with ardent fans still clamoring for Hughes' extremely informative insight into “locations, motivations, a few technical details, music choices, some deleted scenes and his personal disappointments with certain moments (as one 1999 review states),” the track has been uploaded for anyone to download and view alongside their inferior copy.

The chance to hear Hughes speak about 'Bueller' in any sense remains a rare occasion, and so to have such an extended example of the director's thoughts on arguably his centerpiece film is an essential listen. Along with the commentary also sits a link to the film's 1985 shooting script, if the urge for that filmmaking aspect should strike. [Movies via Cinephilia & Beyond]